2011 Japan - two weeks later - 2011 march 25

2. JAPAN – 2011 march 25 Dangerous breach suspected at Japan nuke site Japan struggles to avert a nuclear disaster and care for millions of people without power or water after an earthquake and tsunami killed more than 20,000 people. Prime Minister Naoto Kan described the crisis as Japan’s worst since 1945: “The earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear incident have been the biggest crisis Japan has encountered in the 65 years since the end of World War II,” he said. "The situation today at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant is still very grave and serious. We must remain vigilant," Kan said. "We are not in a position where we can be optimistic. We must treat every development with the utmost care.«  A suspected breach in the core of a reactor at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant could mean more serious radioactive contamination, Japanese officials revealed Friday, as the prime minister called the country's ongoing fight to stabilize the plant "very grave and serious." A somber Prime Minister Naoto Kan sounded a pessimistic note at a briefing hours after nuclear safety officials announced what could be a major setback in the urgent mission to stop the plant from leaking radiation, two weeks after a devastating earthquake and tsunami disabled it. workers hurt after wading into water 10,000 times more radioactive than normal The uncertain situation halted work at the nuclear complex, where dozens of workers had been trying feverishly to stop the overheated plant from leaking dangerous radiation. The plant has leaked some low levels of radiation, but a breach could mean a much larger release of contaminants. Suspicions of a possible breach were raised when two workers waded into water 10,000 times more radioactive than is typical and suffered skin burns, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) said. 'Risking their lives' The prime minister also thanked utility workers, firefighters and military personnel for "risking their lives" to cool the overheated facility. Officials have previously said that small explosions at the reactor could have damaged it, but the high seepage of radiation could imply worse damage than previously believed. A rupture in a reactor would mean a serious reversal following days of slow progress in containing radiation leaks. More than 700 engineers have been working in shifts around the clock to stabilize the six-reactor complex.

3. Reuters Pictures - Handout photo from Tokyo Electric Power Co. shows worker attempting to repair power lines at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture northeastern Japan March 18, 2011. Picture taken March 18, 2011. Mandatory credit.

4. Reuters Pictures - Handout photo from Tokyo Electric Power Co. shows worker attempting to repair power lines at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture northeastern Japan March 18, 2011. Picture taken March 18, 2011.

5. An elderly woman cries in front of a destroyed building in the devastated town of Rikuzentakata in Iwate prefecture on March 19. National police said at least 18,000 were dead or missing in Japan's worst natural disaster in 88 years. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/GettyImages)

6. Tayo Kitamura, 40, kneels in the street to caress and talk to the wrapped body of her mother Kuniko Kitamura, 69, after Japanese firemen discovered the dead woman inside the ruins of her home in Onagawa, Japan, Saturday, March 19. -David Guttenfelder / AP

7. Mark Baker / AP Computer laptops lie damaged on the floor of an airport building at Sendai Airport, March 19. The U.S. military have been asked to help clear the debris and get the airport fully operational as soon as possible.

8. About 1,200 people were trapped inside the Sendai Airport passenger terminal when the earthquake and resulting tsunami struck on March 11. They remained cut off from all outside contact and had to survive on their own for more than two days until help arrived. This panoramic image, made on March 17, shows the damage to the interior of the airport. (Masaki Furumaya / Sankei Shimbun / MSN Japan) Jiji Press / AFP - Getty Images - The damaged radar room in the control tower at the Sendai airport.

9. This handout image, released by Japanese Self Defense Ministry on March 19, shows a fire engine dousing reactor number 3 of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station No.1 at Okuma town in Fukushima prefecture on March 18. Japanese crews fighting to cool overheating reactors laid a power line into a stricken nuclear power plant on March 19. – Japanese Self Defense Ministry / AFP - Getty Images

10. A woman collects water leaking from a manhole in Ishimaki, Japan, March 19. - Kyodo / Reuters

11. Shigemasa Kanno, 74, holds a photograph of his missing 68-year-old wife Sueko Kanno, at the debris of his destroyed house in Rikuzentakata, Japan, March 19. - Aly Song / Reuters

12. In this Thursday, March 18 photo, a farmer checks leeks cultivated in a vinyl house in the earthquake and tsunami-stricken town of Yamamoto, Japan. Japan said Saturday, March 19, that radiation levels in spinach and milk from farms near its tsunami-stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power complex exceeded government safety limits. - photo AP

13. Heavy equipment is used to clear debris from streets in the devastated town of Kesennuma, Japan, March 19, eight days after an earthquake and the subsequent tsunami. - Kaname Muto / The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP

14. Evacuees stretch while doing exercises at an evacuation center in Rikuzentakata, northern Japan on March 19. Photo AP

15. Construction workers pray in silence Saturday before starting to build temporary housing for earthquake-affected residents of the coastal city of Rikuzentakata in Iwate prefecture. - Jiji Press / AFP - Getty Images

16. Residents shop for fresh vegetables Friday at an open-air market in Sendai in Miyagi prefecture, Japan. - Jiji Press / AFP - Getty Images

17. Fisherman Kazuyuki Honga sits inside blue plastic sheets set up on the third floor of his damaged house as he spends the night for the first time since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, Sunday, March 20. Shohei Izumi / The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP

18. Tsunami damage is seen in Kessennuma, Miyagi prefecture on March 20. - Nicolas Asfouri / AFP - Getty Images

19. Tsunami survivor neighborhood watch volunteers make a bonfire at a makeshift evacuation center in Minami Sanriku, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, March 20. - Kimimasa Mayama / EPA

20. An elderly woman is wheeled into a room to be checked by medical staff at a shelter in a school for people whose homes were damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, March 20. - Matt Dunham / AP

21. Members of Japan Self-Defense Force pray for the body of a tsunami victim wrapped in a tarp in Onagawa, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, March 20. - Shuji Kajiyama / AP

22. Two Japanese women, using golf clubs as walking sticks, scavenge for their belongings near a wrecked apartment block in the earthquake and tsunami destroyed town of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, March 20. - David Guttenfelder / AP

23. TOKYO — An 80-year-old woman and her teenage grandson were rescued Sunday in northeastern Japan when the youth was able to pull himself out of their flattened two-story house nine days after the devastating earthquake and tsunami. - When asked if she was hurt, she said no. Jin Abe, 16, was seen calling out for help from the roof of the collapsed home in the hard-hit city of Ishinomaki, according to the Miyagi Prefectural Police. Like other homes in northeastern Japan, they had lost electricity and telephone service in the March 11 earthquake. He led them inside to his 80-year-old grandmother, Sumi Abe. Both were conscious but weak, and had survived on the food they had in their refrigerator, said Shizuo Kawamura of the Ishinomaki police department. The woman could not get out of the house because she has trouble walking, and the teenager, who was suffering from a low body temperature, had been unable until Sunday to pull himself from the wreckage, Kawamura told The Associated Press by telephone. They were found by local police who realized they couldn't get the woman out of the collapsed house and had to call other rescuers, he said.

24. Two Japanese soldiers stop to look at a ship which was blocking a road which their men were trying to clear in the earthquake and tsunami destroyed town of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan Sunday, March 20. - David Guttenfelder / AP

25. An elderly mother holds her daughter after being reunited again in Kesennuma city, Miyagi prefecture on March 20. The number of people confirmed dead or listed as missing in Japan surpassed 20,000, nine days after a massive earthquake and tsunami struck. AFP - Getty Images

26. Chiyoko Kaizuka, an 83-year old farmer, weeds a spinach field Sunday, March 20, in Moriya, Ibaragi Prefecture, Japan. Japan announced the first signs that contamination from its tsunami-crippled nuclear complex has seeped into the food chain, saying that radiation levels in spinach and milk from farms near the facility exceeded government safety limits. - Eugene Hoshiko / AP

27. A fish lies on top of a destroyed car in the earthquake and tsunami leveled town of Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan Sunday, March 20.

28. A man looks for his missing son at a makeshift morgue in coastal city of Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture, northeastern Japan, March 20. - Dai Kurokawa / EPA

29. A woman feeds her cattle at a farm in Kawamata, Fukushima prefecture, 45 kms west of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, on March 20. Japan has detected abnormal levels of radiation in milk and spinach near the stricken nuclear plant, but the foods pose no immediate threat to humans. - Ken Shimizu / AFP - Getty Images

30. Construction workers build 200 temporary houses on March 20, in Rikuzentakata, Japan. Many people have begun to return to their homes as the search continues for thousands still missing. - hris Mcgrath / Getty Images

31. An electricity company employee, center, works on a pole in Ishinomaki on March 20 - Nicholas Kamm / AFP - Getty Images

32. Volunteers arrange food, water, medicine and blankets donated for evacuees from Futaba, a city near the quake-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, at the evacuees' new shelter near Tokyo, March 20. - Jo Yong-hak / Reuters

33. Reuters Pictures A man who evacuated from Futaba, a city near the quake-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, eats food as he rests in a hallway at the evacuees' new shelter Saitama Super Arena, near Tokyo March 20, 2011, nine days after an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. About 2,300 people mainly from Futaba area arrived in Saitama, about 250 km (155 miles) away from their hometown, to evacuate after radiation leakage warnings.

34. Reuters Pictures A woman who evacuated from Futaba, a city near the quake-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, rests in a hallway at the evacuees' new shelter Saitama Super Arena, near Tokyo March 20, 2011, nine days after an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. About 2,300 people mainly from Futaba area arrived in Saitama, about 250 km (155 miles) away from their hometown, to evacuate after radiation leakage warnings.

35. Reuters Pictures - People who evacuated from Futaba, a city near the quake-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, take a rest in a hallway at the evacuees' new shelter Saitama Super Arena, near Tokyo March 20, 2011, nine days after an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. About 2,300 people mainly from Futaba area arrived in Saitama, about 250 km (155 miles) away from their hometown, to evacuate after radiation leakage warnings.

36. Reuters Pictures - Volunteers (L) receive necessaries including food, water, medicine and blankets donated from people to evacuees from Futaba, a city near the quake-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, at the evacuees' new shelter Saitama Super Arena, near Tokyo March 20, 2011, nine days after an earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. About 2,300 people mainly from Futaba area arrived in Saitama, about 250 km (155 miles) away from their hometown, to evacuate after radiation leakage warnings. About 1,000 volunteers gathered on Sunday at the sports complex to help the nuclear evacuees..

37. Demotix Images Saitama Prefecture has accepted people evacuating from the town of Hutaba, located within a 20 km radius of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Many people also went there to volunteer and provide aid supplies. Saitama, Japan

38. Demotix Images About 12,000 people including the mayor arrive in Saitama, northern Tokyo after being evacuated from the town of Hutaba which is located within a 20km radius of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

39. People line up with jugs in hopes of filling them with home heating fuel as massive shortages continue following fears of leaked radiation from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, March 20, in Fukushima city.- Wally Santana / AP

40. An employee of a petrol station operates a pedal-powered fuel pump in Minamisanriku, Miyagi prefecture on March 20. Jiji Press / AFP - Getty Images

41. Hisao Sato and his wife Yoshiko offer a prayer on March 20, prior to Higan, a Japanese Buddhist holiday to give prayer to the dead on the Spring Equinox, at their family grave stone behind their home in Ishimaki which was destroyed by tsunami waves. Asahi Shimbun / EPA

42. Notes of survivors looking for missing family members are posted on a board at the reporting center in the city of Kamaishi in Iwate prefecture on March 20 - Roslan Rahman / AFP - Getty Images

43. A survivor sits next to his sleeping wife at a shelter set up in a school of Kesennuma in Miyagi prefecture on March 20. (Nicolas AsfouriAFP/Getty Images)

44. Reuters Pictures - Smoke is seen coming from the area of the No. 3 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture in northeastern Japan in this handout photo distributed by the Tokyo Electric Power Co. on March 21, 2011. Workers at the quake- and tsunami-hit plant were evacuated after smoke was seen rising from the reactor, among the most badly damaged at the six-reactor plant. Picture taken March 21, 2011.

45. Lance Cpl. Jonathan Blake uses specialized equipment to detect possible surface radiation on the sole of a shoe before an evacuation of Department of Defense dependents and Navy civilians on the island of Honshu on March 21. - U.S. Navy via Reuters

46. A makeshift shrine to honor victims of the earthquake and tsunami stands amid the ruins in Natori on March 21. - Gallo Images via Getty Images

47. Master-at-Arms 3rd Class Michael Cassano hugs his wife and child before an evacuation of Department of Defense dependents and Navy civilians on the island of Honshu on March 21. - U.S. Navy via Reuters

48. Akira Ab, father of 16-year-old Jin Abe, checks on his son at the Red Cross hospital in Ishinomaki on March 21. One day earlier, Jin and Akira's 80-year-old mother, Sumi Abe, were rescued from their collapsed home, nine days after the massive earthquake and tsunami. The story of survival provided some rare good news as the death toll from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami climbed. Jui Press via AFP - Getty Images

49. Workers repair railway tracks damaged by the March 11 earthquake in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki prefecture. - Yukie Nomura / AP

50. A vessel remains where the tsunami deposited it in Ishinomaki. - Kyodo News / AP